Potable Water

Potable water is raw water that has been treated and is safe for human consumption: it's basically your drinking water. The Town receives the majority of its raw, untreated water from snow melt in the Upper Colorado River Basin as part of Northern Water's Big Thompson Project. The water travels through a series of pipelines, intermediate reservoirs and canals before finally making its way to our storage reservoir at the water treatment plant south of Original Town. Our raw water supply is stored before being treated for consumption at Terminal reservoir, next to the water treatment plant. Terminal reservoir can hold approximately 130 million gallons (about 400 acre feet) of water; on average, the Town treats about 2 million gallons per day. Below is a map showing the journey our water takes to get to your faucet.